Protests turn violent in St. Louis suburb in wake of shooting

FERGUSON, Mo. – Protests in the St. Louis suburb rocked by racial unrest since a white police officer shot an unarmed black teenager to death turned violent Wednesday night, with some people lobbing Molotov cocktails and other objects at police who responded with smoke bombs and tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson, who has been the public face of the city torn by Saturday's death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, told reporters earlier in the day that the St. Louis County investigation of the shooting could take weeks to complete. In the meantime, he said, his department welcomes Justice Department training on racial relations in the suburb, where two-thirds of the 21,000 residents are black while all but three of the police force's 53 officers are white.

“Unfortunately, an undertow (of racial unrest) has bubbled to the surface,” said Jackson. “Race relations is the top priority right now.”

While Jackson said he wanted to mend fences with the community, protesters were on the streets of Ferguson again Wednesday, facing heavily armed police who at time trained weapons on them from an armored truck. Two reporters said they were detained by police while working at a McDonald's in the area.

The situation became more tense after nightfall, with police ordering people to go home and then using smoke bombs and later tear gas after some people threw Molotov cocktails and other things at them. Most of the crowd then dispersed. Journalists who witnessed the events included an Associated Press photographer.

St. Louis County police spokesman Brian Schellman said he had no immediate information about the situation.

Earlier, Wesley Lowery of The Washington Post and Ryan Reilly of The Huffington Post said they were handcuffed and put into a police van after officers came in to quickly clear the fast-food restaurant where they were doing some work. The Post reported that Lowery said he was slammed against a soda machine and plastic cuffs were put on his wrists. Reilly told MSNBC that an officer slammed his head against the glass “purposefully” on the way out of the restaurant “and then sarcastically apologized for it.” The reporters were subsequently released without any charges.

Martin D. Baron, The Washington Post's executive editor, issued a statement saying “there was absolutely no justification” for Lowery's arrest and said the organization was appalled by the officers' conduct.

The Huffington Post said in an article on its website that when it called the Ferguson Police Department to ask about Reilly, a person who identified himself as “George” said there was no one there who could give any information. Subsequent calls were put through to the jail voicemail and referred to email, the Huffington Post said.

Jackson did not immediately return a cellphone message Wednesday night from the AP seeking comment about the arrests.

Jackson has faced mounting demands from protesters, clergy and even hackers to reveal the identity of the officer who shot Brown. Jackson argues that revealing that detail could bring retribution to the officer.

Police have said Brown was shot after an officer encountered him and another man on the street. They say one of the men pushed the officer into his squad car, then physically assaulted him in the vehicle and struggled with the officer over the officer's weapon. At least one shot was fired inside the car. The struggle then spilled onto the street, where Brown was shot multiple times. In their initial news conference about the shooting, police didn't specify whether Brown was the person who scuffled with the officer in the car and have refused to clarify their account.

Dorian Johnson, who says he was with Brown when the shooting happened, has told a much different story. He has told media outlets that the officer ordered them out of the street, then tried to open his door so close to the men that it “ricocheted” back, apparently upsetting the officer. Johnson says the officer grabbed his friend's neck, then tried to pull him into the car before brandishing his weapon and firing. He says Brown started to run and the officer pursued him, firing multiple times. Johnson and another witness both say Brown was on the street with his hands raised when the officer fired at him repeatedly.

Some protesters Wednesday raised their arms above their heads as they faced the police. Others held signs asking for answers about Brown's death. The most popular chant has been, “Hands up! Don't shoot!”

Brown's body remained on the street for hours – a span Jackson deemed “uncomfortable” but justified, given that “you only get one chance at that crime scene” to process it correctly. Jackson said authorities also were concerned about gunfire they could hear in a nearby building.

In the shooting's aftermath, the notorious hacking collective Anonymous has taken credit for burrowing into the city website and shutting it down for much of the day Monday. The group also released what it said were audio experts from St. Louis County dispatch on the day Brown was killed. Police declined to comment on the recordings.